Music Features : NPR

'The Talent Comes First': Roc Marciano Takes An A&R Gig

Roc Marciano. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

'The Talent Comes First': Roc Marciano Takes An A&R Gig

April 30, 2013 • The New York rapper on his new role, Lil B's brilliance and doing business with good people.

This Creature That I Am: The Mysteries Of George Jones

George Jones around 1975. Gems/Redferns hide caption

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Gems/Redferns

This Creature That I Am: The Mysteries Of George Jones

April 29, 2013 • The country singer began thrilled by the nightlife in the '50s, and was trapped in it by the '70s. Once a pariah in Nashville, he ended up a mascot who got respect.

The Tyler Interview: Silly, But With A Purpose

Elliott Wilson (left) and Tyler The Creator Tuesday night at the Highline Ballroom. Johnny Nunez/WireImage hide caption

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Johnny Nunez/WireImage

The Tyler Interview: Silly, But With A Purpose

April 26, 2013 • In front of a paying audience, Tyler answered the questions of rap journalist Elliott Wilson. Tyler's buoyancy contrasted with Wilson's laid-back style, and resulted in a conversation that was at turns intimate and crude.

Talib Kweli On Mainstream Hip-Hop And Honoring The Old School

Talib Kweli's new album is titled Prisoner of Conscious. Courtesy of Press Here Publicity hide caption

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Courtesy of Press Here Publicity

Talib Kweli On Mainstream Hip-Hop And Honoring The Old School

April 24, 2013 • The New York rapper's political and layered rhymes have been pegged as "conscious rap," a label that has now become pejorative. His latest album challenges that image, paying homage to old-school hip-hop and working with the present.

Talib Kweli On Mainstream Hip-Hop And Honoring The Old School

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Richie Havens, A Folk Singer Of 'Freedom'

The crowd at Richie Havens' Woodstock-opening set on Aug. 15, 1969. Paul DeMaria/New York Daily News via Getty Images hide caption

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Paul DeMaria/New York Daily News via Getty Images

Richie Havens, A Folk Singer Of 'Freedom'

April 22, 2013 • Richie Havens had a long career as a musician, but he's still most famous for one set he played to hundreds of thousands in New York in 1969.

Richie Havens, A Folk Singer Of 'Freedom'

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Adrian Younge (left) and Ghostface onstage at the Seattle stop of their tour last week. Erich Donaldson hide caption

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Erich Donaldson

The Ghostface Killah Rises Again

April 22, 2013 • A high-concept collaborative album by a veteran rapper and a film composer knits together hip-hop and soul music.

The Ghostface Killah Rises Again

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Courtesy of the artist

What Nick Drake Taught Me About Art And Love

April 18, 2013 • Some music feels so personal, it's hard to think about sharing it with anyone else. A new tribute album of songs by the folk singer Nick Drake (featuring many musicians who themselves hold Drake dear) tests the limits of one critic's ability to share that love.

Coachella's Hometown Aims To Cash In On Fest's Rising Tide

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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella

Coachella's Hometown Aims To Cash In On Fest's Rising Tide

LAist 89.3

April 18, 2013 • The highest-grossing music festival in the world happens in a city struggling to stay afloat.

Coachella's Hometown Aims To Cash In On Fest's Rising Tide

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The Diverse Influence Of The 2013 Rock Hall Inductees

Public Enemy on stage in 1988. The group will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame Thursday. Suzie Gibbons/Redferns/Getty Images hide caption

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Suzie Gibbons/Redferns/Getty Images

The Diverse Influence Of The 2013 Rock Hall Inductees

WCPN News

April 18, 2013 • As the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts a new class, musicians and writers look at how influence — one of the Hall's criteria for induction — plays out in ways obvious (how Beyonce draws on Donna Summer) and not so much (jazz pianist Vijay Iyer explains how Public Enemy shaped his music).

The Diverse Influence Of The 2013 Rock Hall Inductees

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This Was 1993: 20 Years Ago I Heard The Perfect Rap Song

Boots Riley, in the opening of The Coup's video for "Not Yet Free." Courtesy of Wild Pitch Records hide caption

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Courtesy of Wild Pitch Records

This Was 1993: 20 Years Ago I Heard The Perfect Rap Song

April 17, 2013 • Writer Kiese Laymon says back then he would have sworn on everything he loved that hip-hop would never be the same after The Coup's "Not Yet Free."

The Music Of The Venezuelan Presidential Campaigns

Alvaro Perez volunteers as a DJ at a socialist party stand in Caracas, Venezuela, playing songs in support of candidate Nicolas Maduro. Jasmine Garsd/NPR hide caption

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Jasmine Garsd/NPR

The Music Of The Venezuelan Presidential Campaigns

April 12, 2013 • In Caracas, emotions run high and there's noise to match. Supporters of both major candidates for Venezuela's president have created soundtracks that are a constant presence on the city's streets.

The Music Of The Venezuelan Presidential Campaigns

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Talking 21st Century Songwriting With Kurt Vile

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Shawn Brackbill/Courtesy of Matador Records

Talking 21st Century Songwriting With Kurt Vile

April 10, 2013 • Like most songwriters, he claims not to know where his songs come from. But his music, at once poetically aloof and acutely relatable, begs an explanation like little has in years.

Brad Paisley's 'Accidental Racist' And The History Of White Southern Musical Identity

Brad Paisley onstage at the 48th Annual Academy Of Country Music Awards Sunday in Las Vegas. Jerod Harris/ACMA2013/Getty Images for ACM hide caption

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Jerod Harris/ACMA2013/Getty Images for ACM

Brad Paisley's 'Accidental Racist' And The History Of White Southern Musical Identity

April 9, 2013 • The song that has made Paisley the object of derision on the Internet is part of a complicated expression of white Southern heritage that stretches back to the early 20th century and reaches its peak on "Sweet Home Alabama."

The Wu-Tang Clan. Clockwise from left: Ol' Dirty Bastard, the GZA, the RZA, Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah. Center, from left, Method Man and U-God. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

The Record

The Wu-Tang Clan's 20-Year Plan

April 8, 2013 • The group's 1993 debut was the opening shot of an audacious plan to open the music industry to hip-hop made way outside the mainstream.

The Wu-Tang Clan's 20-Year Plan

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Brian Johnson (L) and Angus Young of AC/DC in 2000. Johnson's first album with the group, 1980's Back In Black, is one of the best-selling albums of all time, despite never reaching No. 1 on the Billboard album chart. Michele Limina/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Michele Limina/AFP/Getty Images

The Record

Justin Timberlake And The AC/DC Rule

April 5, 2013 • A lesson from the Australian classic rockers explains why the pop star's newest album, which hasn't generated glowing reviews or massive radio hits, still had an explosive opening sales week.

Tuesday April 30, 2013

Monday April 29, 2013

Friday April 26, 2013

Wednesday April 24, 2013

Talib Kweli On Mainstream Hip-Hop And Honoring The Old School

Monday April 22, 2013

Richie Havens, A Folk Singer Of 'Freedom'

The Ghostface Killah Rises Again

Thursday April 18, 2013

LAist 89.3

Coachella's Hometown Aims To Cash In On Fest's Rising Tide

WCPN News

The Diverse Influence Of The 2013 Rock Hall Inductees

Wednesday April 17, 2013

Friday April 12, 2013

The Music Of The Venezuelan Presidential Campaigns

Wednesday April 10, 2013

Tuesday April 9, 2013

Monday April 8, 2013

The Wu-Tang Clan's 20-Year Plan

Friday April 5, 2013